IT Security Solutions

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM)

Cyber security is an increasingly important part of our personal and professional lives, and 2019 marks the 16th year of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). To engage and educate Americans on proper online security etiquette, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance created NCSAM. Connection is proud to be an official Champion of NCSAM. We’re dedicating the month of October to spreading the word about cyber security, and providing tools and resources to help you stay safe and secure online.

Stay tuned all month long for advice from our experts on building a strong, cost-effective security plan.

Are You Staying Ahead of Cyber Security Threats?

Learn more about Cyber Security Solutions.

The Road to Cyber Security

Your network is the center of business for your organization—a city of towering skyscrapers built from data, apps, and hard work. But is your city secure—are your data, apps, and users safe? Whether you need a bird’s eye view of today’s security landscape or street-level solutions designed to fight cybercrime, the experts at Connection are here to help you build a more secure future.

FEATURED PODCASTS

HPE Security in the New Digital Landscape

In our final installment of our National Cyber Security Awareness Month podcast series. Penny Conway continues discussions with the Connection Cyber Security Team and Jeannette Riker, HPE Product Manager. Listen as Jeannette speaks about HPE's complete end-to-end security approach, and learn how HPE can boast "the industry's most secure server."

Intel Security First Pledge

Ever wonder what an Intel vPro chip does, or what Intel’s Security First Pledge means to your end users? In this podcast, we have a candid discussion with Marc Sadinsky, Partner Manager for Intel, on both of these topics and more.

Microsoft Roundtable: Security

In episode 17 of our podcast series, Lane Shelton, VP of Microsoft Center of Excellence, speaks to cloud security and the many features and benefits in the Microsoft tech stack—including Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365—and how they create a safer work environment for digital transformation. The Connection Cyber Security Team will also discuss risk management and the need to utilize the security tools Microsoft offers.

KICK-OFF part II to National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Episode 15 is part 2 of our continued round table discussion to kick-off National Cyber Security Month starting tomorrow. What would happen if you talked with experts about some interesting, crazy and scary cyber security issues they've come across? Listen in to a very interesting Cyber Security Podcast.

KICK-OFF to National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Episode 14 is a Round table discussion with the TSG Cyber Security Team as they talk about the fact that you've probably already been compromised on a security level. How to prepare for the when - it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when you're going to get compromised and next steps.

Must listen Cyber Security Roundtable: Part 1

The security of your infrastructure is as important to you as it is to Connection’s Technology Solutions Group. Listen to this podcast to learn more about what security really means and how risk management plays a large part in best practices.

Are you browsing on a secure connection? Look for the in the address bar to know your data is safe.

Connection Community News on Cyber Security

Public Wi-Fi is readily available and convenient to use—but public Wi-Fi hotspots can also present a risk. Attackers can set up rogue access points that trick users into connecting, allowing them to perform man in the middle (MITM) attacks. This type of attack allows malicious actors to intercept and manipulate network traffic or install malware on systems connected to the rogue access point. Below are some steps you can take to protect yourself while using a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

Be it for our personal use or for business purposes, most of us are connecting to networks and interacting with some form of sensitive data on a daily basis. We have all kinds of great devices (such as phones, tablets, and PCs) that we’re using to connect to a variety of networks, each with differing levels of protection; at home, public Wi-Fi in the coffee shop or at the airport, in our doctor’s office, and at our place of work.

Phishing is a form of social engineering that attempts to steal sensitive information such as passwords, bank account details, or credit card numbers. Phishing attempts can be targeted attacks, which are known as spear phishing, or an attacker can cast a wide net targeting thousands of users, hoping to lure a few unsuspecting targets to download a malicious file or click on a malicious link.

Authentication usually requires a username and password. This is considered single factor authentication. MFA adds another step in the authentication process by requiring a second factor—or some other form of evidence—from the user. This can be a personal identification number (PIN) or the response to a challenge question (something the user knows) or an automatically generated token (something the user has). Multifactor authentication can also use biometric factors (something the user is), such as a fingerprint, facial recognition, or retina scanning.

What makes a strong password? Many of us are overly familiar with the standard password guidance of a minimum of 8 characters, a mix of upper and lower case letters, and at least one special character (e.g. @, #, or $). This guidance was provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2003. We also should rotate our password (at a minimum) every 90 days. Many organizations today are enforcing their password policies to follow these “rules.”

Let’s start this conversation out with the definition of device. The list of what constitutes one is growing. For now, let’s say that you have a home computer (desktop, laptop, or both), work computer (desktop, laptop, or both), home tablet, work tablet, personal smartphone, and work smartphone. This is a pretty extensive list of devices that an adversary could use to attack you professionally and personally.

Keeping up with your privacy settings can be daunting. Think about all of the places where your privacy settings are stored: on e-commerce and social media sites, in email and Web browsers, on your mobile devices and in their apps—the list goes on. Social networks alone—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat for instance—all have their own privacy settings. How does anyone really keep up?

It is a daily occurrence for many of us: when there are a few minutes of downtime, we check personal email, followed by a “quick” look at our social media accounts. While navigating the maze of a-friend-of-a-friend profiles, or clicking on a URL to bring up an article you discovered on twitter, do you ever stop to ask “How susceptible are my social media profiles?” or “What if that link I just clicked is malicious?”

When was the last time you thought about your network security? It was probably more recently than your endpoint security. Most of the time, when thinking security, you want to protect stored data on a server or Wi-Fi. However, most users are more concerned with the data on their PCs or printouts. So many times, a mobile user will accidentally send a document to the wrong printer, or get distracted by what the passenger next to them is doing on a plane, or even leave their device in the back seat of a cab. All of these potential threats are easy to protect against if you know what to look out for.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices utilize internet connectivity with embedded technology that allows them to be controlled remotely through computer interfaces giving rise to security vulnerabilities and challenges. With little to no serious security protection consideration given to this industry, security breaches of such devices have reached headline heights. Risk assessment and protection for companies and your home are critical.

Hackers are working hard to find new ways to get your data. It’s not surprising that cyber security risk is top of mind for every risk owner, in every industry. As the frequency and complexity of malicious attacks persistently grows, every company should recognize that they are susceptible to an attack at any time—whether it comes as an external focused attack, or a social engineering attack. Let’s take a look at the top 5 risks that every risk owner should be preparing for.

As I reflect upon my almost 40 years as a cyber security professional, I think of the many instances where the basic tenets of cyber security—those we think have common understanding—require a lot of additional explanation. For example, what is a vulnerability assessment? If five cyber professionals are sitting around a table discussing this question, you will end up with seven or eight answers. One will say that a vulnerability assessment is vulnerability scanning only.

Phishing—or the practice of sending emails that appear to be legitimate in order to gain access to information as part of a scam—is a serious cyber security problem. According to CSO Online, 56% of IT professionals named phishing as their top cyber security threat. However, phishing attacks aren’t just targeted against businesses or individuals.

IT Security Solutions

IT Security Services

Security is the responsibility of every user. Learn more about our Security Awareness Training as well as the other IT security services Connection offers that empower you to control your risk day after day.

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